Scrapping my car - any tips?

GDB2222

I have decided to scrap my 20 year old Volvo C70, as it has recently become unreliable.

Any tips on which firm to use? I have SORNed the vehicle, so I need a firm to collect it, although it is still driveable.

The headlamp units are easy to remove, and they go for around £200 each on ebay. (I paid £500 for a new one a couple of years ago!)

Any other parts that it is worth removing before scrapping it?

Does removing bits change the scrap value?.

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6689164/scrapping-my-car-any-tips

You intend to remove £400-worth of "bits", whose absence will be glaringly obvious. How do you imagine it could NOT affect the scrap value?

soolin

I had to scrap my Citroen recently due to engine failure. We Buy anycar wouldn't take it as it was a non runner but a local ish place we found via recommendation locally came with a flat bed and took it. Even though it was scrap (got £100 for it) they still had me answer lots of questions, including whether the car was intact of all extras and whether I had swapped out or removed any parts. The person collecting did a check as well to make sure it looked exactly as it was supposed to- including checking spare wheel and other 'loose' parts.

Mildly_Miffed

Phone round local scrappies.

jimjames

 although it is still driveable.

Does it still have MOT? If so then advertise it for free on sites like Facebook or Gumtree and see what offers you get. May well be more than a scrapyard will offer if someone can repair

GDB2222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82190793#Comment_82190793

I wasn’t sure how picky they are. After all there’s £500 of scrap steel in the car, and the best scrap offer is about half of that.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82191503#Comment_82191503

As above I got £100 for my 14 year old Citroen with all parts present , although I would have got £175 if I could have dropped it off myself but had to 'pay/lose' £75 as it needed collection on a flat bed. They were very careful checking everything was there including the alloys that I mentioned, the wheel nut lock and the spare wheel. Even though the car was a non runner they checked under the bonnet to ensure that all was present (I've no idea what they were looking at).

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82191503#Comment_82191503

So do the dismantling yourself.

Sell whatever's sellable as parts.
Then remove everything bar the steel from the bodyshell - decontaminate it of fluids etc, remove all the cast iron and the plastic and the glass etc - and weigh the steel in as steel and the aluminium in as aluminium, rather than the whole thing as "mixed metals" or "mixed scrap"…

That's the best way to get top money - but it'll be a LOT of work.
Or sell it as spares/repair. That'll get you somewhere above weigh-in, but you'll have to deal with numpties and scammers.

Or, since it's driveable, just drive it to a scrappy and hand them the keys and paperwork. That'll get you more than them sending a truck out to collect.

But if you want the low-hassle approach? Phone them to come and collect.

GixerKate

If you've got the time and space to store the parts then you would probably get the most ££ doing it yourself however some parts may not move very quickly.

Personally I used Redcorn, they were quick, came to the house and gave me a fair price for the van and car that we scrapped.

Herzlos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82191503#Comment_82191503

scrap mixed steel is worth something like £70/ton at most, there's barely £100 of scrap steel in the car. A scrap yard is also going to have to dispose of the battery, oils and tires etc.

Your best bet is finding someone who'll buy it for parts and not to crush. But taking out the valuable parts is going to really hurt the value for them.

I'd stick it up on gumtree/facebook/ebay as is and see if anyone will give you more than £100 to take it away. Or find an owners club and see if someone wants it. It might be worth more as a donor car to keep another one going.

GDB2222

I've sold it to Redcorn, who are picking it up this afternoon. They were not bothered about the missing headlights. I'll report back if they later quibble. Other scrappie offered more initially, but dropped that by £40 when I said I would take the headlight units out.

I take @Mildly_Miffed's point that there's a lot of work involved in taking it apart properly and recycling the different bits.